mashfandomcom-20200216-history
Our Finest Hour (TV series episode)
"Our Finest Hour", a two-episode story arc, were the fourth and fifth episodes of Season 7 of the M*A*S*H TV series, also the 150th and 151st overall series episodes. The episodes, which were written by Ken Levine & David Isaacs, Larry Balmagia along with Ronny Graham and David Lawrence, was directed by Burt Metcalfe. The episodes originally aired on CBS-TV as an hour-long episode on October 9, 1978. Synopsis An hour-long series retrospective. A reporter, Clete Roberts, interviews the staff. Mixed in are scenes from past shows. Detailed summary Date: October 9, 1952: Reporter Clete Roberts returns to the 4077th, to check back in the medical unit with the best survival rate in all of Korea. Amidst new interviews with the staff (including new arrival Major Winchester), we are treated to clips of previous episodes from the preceding six seasons, featuring departed characters Trapper John, Henry Blake, and Frank Burns. Winchester offers that he tries to blot out the memory of what transpires at the 4077th as it happens, trying especially hard to forget some of the people he's met...knowing deep down that he never shall. Father Mulcahy tries to say something nice about Winchester, since he was not at the 4077th when Clete Roberts came by the first time. The best, most polite answer he can muster is..."He's a very good doctor." The final clip is from Season One's "Sometimes You Hear The Bullet", and Clete Roberts, talking directly to the camera, hopes that some day soon these people will be able to go home, and "No one will have to assemble for a duty like this ever again." Trivia * The title is from Winston Churchill's World War II speech about the English efforts against the German attacks on their homeland: "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'" * “Our Finest Hour” edits clips of the following past installments: “War of Nerves,” Adam's Ribs," “Some 38th Parallels,” “Dear Mildred,” “Change of Command,” "Crisis,” "The Late Captain Pierce" "Fallen Idol," “The Pilot," "As You Were," and "Abyssinia, Henry." Father Mulcahy's speech about surgeons warming themselves over a patient's open wound is spliced from the Season 4 finale, "The Interview". * This is the only episode of the series to feature the entire series cast, including former cast members McLean Stevenson, Wayne Rogers and Larry Linville (who portrayed Lt. Col. Henry Blake, "Trapper" John McIntyre, and Maj. Frank Burns). * The syndicated 2-part version of “Our Finest Hour” was substituted in the place of the original hour version on 20th Century Fox's seventh season of M*A*S*H on DVD in December 2004, as its original master materials were damaged over time. The DVD offers viewers a choice of watching the episode in two half-hour parts, each with their own set of opening and closing credits, or as one episode with a single set of credits. Guest Cast: *Clete Roberts as Himself *Harry Truman as himself *Dwight Eisenhower as Himself *Richard Nixon as himself *Larry Linville as Major Frank Burns (in archive footage) *Wayne Rogers as Trapper John McIntyre (in archive footage) *McLean Stevenson as Lt. Colonel Henry Blake (in archive footage) External links *[http://www.tv.com/shows/mash/our-finest-hour-43350/ M*A*S*H episode Our Finest Hour at TV.com] *[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0638375/ M*A*S*H episode Our Finest Hour at the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)] Category:Season 7 episodes